theft at Typhoon Lagoon - who to write to?

[dznyacct]

After spending a wonderful week on the Magic a few weeks ago, we spent the next 9 days at WDW. Sadly, last Tuesday we were the victims of theft at Typhoon Lagoon. We had a locker that we put our wallets, clothes and new digital camera (with over 300 cruise photos) in. In a half hour time period our key was lost and some horrible person broke my heart by stealing our wallets and camera. Granted, the cash and dealing with stolen credit cards was a huge ordeal, but our missing photos of myself, DH, DS and DS's best friend on the cruise crushed me beyond belief. Tears are welling up in my eyes as I type this thinking about our wonderful cruise and the pictures that I will never see again. We filed a police report, but I feel that we were kind of "brushed under the rug" by Disney. They rushed me very quickly to a back room, out of public view. I spoke to several CMs after the incident and they all strongly encouraged me to contact WDW management about the situation. Does anyone have any suggestions on who I should direct my letter to? Thanks for any advice you can offer.

 

[Schmeck]

What can Disney do? You lost the key, someone nasty found it, etc. I don't think Disney will be able to find your camera for you - it's probably already been pawned.

I'm very sorry that you lost all of your photos, but I don't understand what you expect Disney to do...

 

[slp87]

So sorry!! I'm not sure what to do...how did you lose the key?? Did you leave it with your things or was it on one of you?? We always rent a locker and I would hate to have that happen.

 

[WDSearcher]

I agree with the poster who said that Disney really can't help you here. If it had been their negligence that lost the key -- if they had given you a lanyard to wear and the lanyard broke, for example -- then you could ask for compensation. But if someone in your party simply lost the key and someone dishonest picked it up and robbed you, then I think you're unfortunately at a dead end. Even if you wrote to Disney and they, for some reason, decided to provide you with some sort of compensation, it's still not going to get your photos back.

It doesn't sound like you're looking for any compensation here -- you seem more upset about the loss of the photos than anything else. And, if that's the case, I don't see how anyone other than the thief himself (or herself) can do anything.

I'm sorry your camera was stolen -- hopefully you have a few photos on another camera or, at the very least, some souvenirs and postcards to help bolster the memories of your cruise.

 

[mrsltg]

Wow - this stinks! I am so sorry that you lost your photos. What a nasty way to end a wonderful vacation. Your best bet is to learn from this and bring something to download your photos onto from now on.

Erin

 

[Dznefreek]

Does anyone have any suggestions on who I should direct my letter to? Thanks for any advice you can offer.

I hate to be so blunt but you lost the key. End of story.

 

[zurgswife]

Sorry that you lost your precious photos...but I agree with the above posters...it was your own carelessness and wasn't Disney's fault....really nothing they could do...

 

[dznyacct]

My intent of writing the letter is to make a suggestion as to how keys and lockers could be done in order to avoid this situation. Believe me, I realize that is was my fault that the key was lost. I was just asking for an address. I guess I'll try somewhere else. Thanks anyway.

 

[Distriv]

Sorry about your loss. It so sad that one terrible person could ruin your vacation.

 

[4greatboys]

Sorry to hear that. Its been a while since we hit the waterparks but I know the ones here dont have the locker numbers on them. They will tell you the number and write it on your receipt but its not on the key or keychain.

 

[Jillpie]

Gosh, I feel your pain. I took over 300 photos of our last DW trip, so I can't even imagine taking them of the cruise and losing them. I'm so sorry that happened to you . We have tended to leave our stuff right on the sand at BB (don't go to TL) and go and have fun...I think this post has changed my mind. I am wondering about your key though...did it just slip out of a pocket or something and did you realize it at the end of the day?

I just feel awful for you losing those pictures. I wish we could help you somehow.

 

[tci1212]

Sorry about your experience at the waterpark.I can't believe Disney actually puts numbers on the key to correspond to the locker. A company like Disney should have a better system than that. I am sure you are not the first person this has happened to. Do they have security cameras? I would write a letter to Disney. Maybe you could make a call to the resort were you stayed and they could put you in touch with someone. Good Luck.

 

[bunnyfoo]

Sorry to hear of your awful experience. The last time I was at TL, I put my locker key into one of those waterproof cases and the string snapped off and I didn't realize it until it was long gone. The first thing I thought of was that whoever found the case would head straight to my locker and steal our wallets. I sent my DBF to stand by the locker to make sure no one would try to get into our locker and then I reported the loss of our key to the CM who was in charge of renting the lockers. He came over opened the locker, we took our stuff out and gave us a new locker.

Good luck with your letter! Let us know what happens..

 

[dznyacct]

Thanks for your concerns and well wishes. I had our key in a waterproof wallet that I bought on our cruise. I'm guessing that the key fell out when I got a park map out. From the last time I used the key to when I realized it was missing was only 45 minutes. I guess "pros" don't need much time to ruin a vacation. I had planned on surprising my son with a "mom and me" WDW trip over Spring Break (I bought premium annual passes activated on this trip with that in mind), but I just don't know if I can justify the cost after "eating" our loss. We met a few great families on the cruise who I am going to e-mail and ask for copies of our group pictures. I know it won't be the same, but at least it will be something...........

 

[Ilovestitch]

Originally posted by tci1212
I can't believe Disney actually puts numbers on the key to correspond to the locker. A company like Disney should have a better system than that.

I agree- at Universal Studios, they have these touch-screen kiosks where you use your fingerprint to rent a locker. The computer scans your index finder and gives you a locker number, the button on the locker lights up so you can find it.

You put your items in the locker and press the button to lock it. When you return, you scan your finger at the kiosk again and it unlocks your locker. It sounds complicated, but its a really quick and easy process. Its free for 30 mins., I think, and then after that you scan a credit card/room key card to pay for it. -Stephanie

 

[Schmeck]

What happens at Universal when the power goes out (or during a thunderstorm when you shouldn't be touching anything electrical...) and the kiosk won't work? How far away is the kiosk from the locker? I don't think I'd want my locker lighting up to let everyone know it's unlocked...

 

[WDSearcher]

Originally posted by dznyacct
My intent of writing the letter is to make a suggestion as to how keys and lockers could be done in order to avoid this situation. Believe me, I realize that is was my fault that the key was lost. I was just asking for an address. I guess I'll try somewhere else. Thanks anyway.

I guess maybe people couldn't tell from your original post that reason you wanted to write a letter was to make suggestions about how to improve the locker thing. It seemed as though you were asking who to write to for some sort of reimbursement. That's probably why you're getting the answers you're getting.

But either way, the address is the same : Guest Letters, WDW, PO Box 10000, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830. If you put "ATTN : Typhoon Lagoon Lockers" on the envelope, it wil help focus the letter for the Guest Letters person reading it and it will help it on it's way.

One thing ... Disney obviously gets a ton of letters every week. If you want them to respond to you, tell them. A lot of letters that make suggestions or point out problems never get a response because they're seen as simply letters of information. And then people get all upset because Disney never wrote back. So if there's a specific response you're looking for -- even if it's just an acknowledgement of the problem, or an update on any changes that might happen -- be sure to request it at the end of your letter. And, also, if the intent of the letter is truly to inform them of the problem and offer a suggestion, be sure to focus on that and not on what was taken or how much the stolen items mean to you ... that will turn the letter into a "guest recovery" and it will take longer for the suggestions to make it to the people they need to get to.

Sorry, again, about the loss of your camera.

 

[petula]

Originally posted by Schmeck
How far away is the kiosk from the locker? I don't think I'd want my locker lighting up to let everyone know it's unlocked...

The kiosks are VERY close to the lockers. As in, you could tackle someone trying to open your lit locker if they should try to get there before you. In fact, the lines for the kiosks make it very hard for anyone to move until they're unlocking their own lockers.

I'm not sure about the thunderstorm question, but I did see a woman having a hard time with the kiosk because every time she pressed the button for Spanish, the machine reverted to English when it got to the next screen.

My problem with the system is that (as far as I noticed) it never mentioned that you should write down your locker number. A lot of locker systems print out a receipt with the number on it. Not so in this case, and you will be asked for the number when you return, so everyone, have a pen ready!

 

[Schmeck]

Lines for the kiosks? That doesn't seem very useful either...

How about lockers that let you set a 4-6 digit code to open them? Don't know how you'd have to pay for them, but at least no key would be involved.

 

[phamton]

The lines at Universal kiosk are only a line of one or two people. These are not lines like what we found at Blizzard Beach when we went to get a locker key.

Many of the lockers at Universal are free for 2 hours. The fingerprint scan works great and no key to carry around. If you forget your locker number, an employee can have you scan your fingerprint to find your locker number. But even with a fingerprint, they have you describe what you have in your locker before they release it to you.